(nōz ) The projection in the center of the face that is the organ of smell and the entrance to the nasal cavities. The nose is a triangle composed of and bounded by bone and cartilage covered with skin and lined with mucous membrane. Hairs just inside the nostrils block the entrance of dusts and small insects. SYN: SEE: nasus; SEE: organum olfactus

EXAMINATIONNote the shape, size, color, and state of the alae nasi, and any discharge, interference with respiration, evidence of injury, deflected or perforated septum, enlarged turbinates, or tenderness over frontal and maxillary sinuses.